Strauss: Capriccio - Diener 6

Only a master looking back on a lifetime of craft could have composed the unique, dazzling entertainment that is Capriccio — the opera that Richard Strauss called his “conversation piece for music.” In Capriccio, Strauss gives us two women of intoxicating allure: the incomparably sophisticated Countess Madeleine and her friend Clairon, a beautiful actress. The Countess's charm and artistic refinement are irresistible to the poet Olivier and his rival Flamand, a composer. In a classic debate, they vie for the primacy of their respective arts and for the Countess’s love.